The war raged across Germany from 1618 to 1630 with the Habsburg, Holy Roman Emperor retaining the upperhand. Then the tide of war changed when King Gustav Adolf of Sweden, the "Lion of the North," revitalized the cause of the Protestant princes of Germany. Bankrolled by France, the Swedes pushed their advantage towards the Emperor's most valuable ally, Maximilian of Bavaria. Though Catholic, France sought to keep the power of the Habsburgs in check by financially supporting the Swedish King.

From 1632 to 1648, Bavaria and the surrounding area became a crucial battlefront to knocking Bavaria out of the war. The Swedes enjoyed success until fate removed their King and their over-extended forces could not hold onto their gains. After the Swedes suffered a sharp defeat at Nördlingen in 1634, France was forced to play a more active role or lose all she had paid for. A series of seesaw campaigns ensued as the French Armée d'Allemagne secured crossings of the Rhine and pushed the war back into the heart of Bavaria. The area became the proving ground of the greatest generals of the age - Turenne, Condé, Mercy, de Werth. Neither side possessed a clear superiority of forces so it was a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse, march, counter-march, siege, and surprise attacks. After several years, a combined French-Swedish campaign finally broke the back of the Bavarians in 1646 and Maximilian made a separate peace. It did not last long; after a year he reluctantly rejoined the Imperial cause. Repeating the winning combination of 1646, the French-Swedish army ended Maximilian's enterprise at Zusmarshausen in 1648.

The Game:

Won by the Sword is the first game in Ben Hull's Great Campaigns of the Thirty Years War series. It is a two-player game of operational warfare in the 17th Century. Armies maneuver on a point to point map of Southern Germany based on the road network available at the time. Each game is centered around a major battle or full campaign season. A Turn is a month divided into a variable number of impulses. Each army has a hand of Campaign Cards that control the amount of activity it may perform, the supplies it must expend, and a special action. Each impulse features one card play per army. Forces are concealed off map so players are faced with limited knowledge of the enemy. The major activities are maneuver, foraging, besieging fortifications, and an occasional battle. Won by the Sword is a low-complexity game with emphasis on the players maneuvering their forces, but many decisions await. The low rules complexity allows each player, rather than being encumbered with rules, to focus on choices regarding how to manage his campaign.

Battle Games:

Nördlingen 1634

Tuttlingen 1643

Freiburg 1644

Mergentheim 1645

Alerheim 1645

Full Campaigns:

1632 - The Lion of the North Goes South - Gustav Adolf's Campaign against Bavaria

1634 - Swedes are pushed out of the South

1638 - Weimar's Triumph - Duke Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar leads his German corps in French service to turn the tide of the war in the South

1644 - French battle to secure the Breisgau and Baden, Bavarians defend masterfully

1645 - Struggle for Württemburg - French and Bavrians fight a seesaw battle for control of Württemburg and Nördlingen area

1646 - Turenne's Triumph - French and Swedes launch a joint campaign to bring Bavaria to her knees

1648 - The Bitter End - Zusmarshausen, again a combined French - Swedish force strikes into the heart of a resurgent Bavaria

TIME SCALE: 5 to 7 days per Turn
MAP SCALE: Point to Point
UNIT SCALE:

Infantry Regiments = 800-1000 men

Cavalry Regiments = 400-500 men

Detachments = 200-300 men

Artillery Units = 8-10 guns

COMPONENTS:
One 34"x22" map
Four countersheets
One deck of 55 cards
One Rules Booklet
One Campaign Booklet
One 8.5"x11" Battle Board
Two 8.5"x11" Player Force Cards
Two 11"x17" Player Aid Cards
One 10-sided die